Interchangeable
by GeekyGenius
Summary: Kaito and Shinichi are best friends. Unsurprisingly, weird things happen on a (pretty much) daily basis. The fact that they look almost identical doesn't seem to help things either... Daily word prompt from Poirot cafe.


AN: This is from the daily word prompts from the Poirot Café forum.

The words were from #23 – hostage, revenge, and ice-cream. Here I go!

DISCLAIMER: If I owned Detective Conan and Magic Kaito, they would have been books instead of manga/animes, as I can't draw.

It was around midday when the high-school detective Kudo Shinichi finally had cornered the kidnappers. The hostage was tied rather unimaginatively to a pole further inside the warehouse, his mouth duct-taped shut, but his eyes conveyed all that he wanted to say anyway. A smirk not unlike ones that KID and Conan would share graced itself upon the detective's lips, his eyes sparkling from the thrill of the chase. He conversed with the kidnappers for a while, keeping their attention on him, letting them know he was alone, and stalling for just a bit more time. Even if they had spotted the hidden undertone of amusement in his voice, there was slim chance of their escape.

"Well, it was lovely finally meeting you all, but I'm afraid your other visitors have arrived, and I wouldn't dare overstay my warm welcome." Shinichi bowed mockingly, allowing himself some fun for once, as it wasn't a murder scene.

Shinichi retreated, and Megure-keibu burst through the doors, followed by Takagi-keiji, Satou-keiji, and some officers he recognised but their names eluded him. Shouting ensued, and while the kidnappers were distracted, Shinichi made his way to the back of the warehouse where the hostage was, freeing first his hands and allowing the man to peel the duct tape off his mouth himself. Shinichi offered him a hand up, which the man moved to take before pulling out a knife and lunging at Shinichi, barely missing as Shinichi dodged sideways. The man crawled to his feet, a look of a lunatic crossing his features.

"You fell right into our trap, Kudo Shinichi." He leered; snarling as he once again lunged and missed.

"Kudo-kun!" The officers yelled, the commotion increasing as the 'kidnappers' tried harder to keep the officers busy. But their shouts fell on deaf ears as Shinichi tuned everything out, focusing only on dodging and disarming the man in front of him.

"Why go to this extreme length just to get me?" Shinichi found himself wondering out loud amidst the small game of cat and mouse.

"Ha! Of course you wouldn't know! You disappeared, the right before my sister's murder. She could not have committed suicide, I know it. She was so happy, and planned to adopt a child soon too. But you were suddenly unable to be contacted, and the police ruled it a suicide, the reason being her inability to have a child of her own. She would never have…!" With renewed vigour, the man started thrashing wildly trying to physically hit Shinichi, the knife still in his hands more dangerous as the assailant forgot for a moment how to use one, rely on his bare hands. Fuming when Shinichi still dodged his blows easily, he brandished the knife in both hands, aiming to kill.

"It was your fault! If you had been there, it wouldn't…" He was cut off abruptly, as the suddenly knife clattered to the floor from his hands.

"Revenge, huh?" The knife was kicked quickly across the ground towards Takagi-keiji, who promptly picked it up with a cloth and put it in a plastic bag, the other kidnappers temporarily restricted.

"How did you…" The man stared at the knife, now far out of his reach, unbelief at what had just occurred, limiting his movements and thought processes.

"Never let your emotions take over your mind in a fight." A devilish grin well-known to the occupants of 2B and Ekoda high to mean 'run' spread across Shinichi's face, seen by none but his attacker.

"Yyyou! You…! YOU!" Incoherent speech filed the void of silence as the kidnappers and 'rescued victim' were taken out in cuffs, the later a terrified look stuck on his face.

Shinichi walked down the streets of Beika towards the Poirot Café, where he was to meet his best friend Kuroba Kaito. He stood dead still as said best friend came running at him, grabbing his arm and dragging him off through the city. Many past attempts had ingrained in Shinichi the ability to not question anything Kaito did, trust him, and go along with it. It took an awful lot to surprise Kudo Shinichi (or anyone in the acquaintance of Kuroba Kaito, for that matter). It wasn't until they were seated inside an old-fashioned ice-cream parlour with a lemon sorbet and a plate of chocolate waffles smothered in chocolate ice cream that either spoke.

"An eventful day, I suppose?" Shinichi sent a questioning glance to the person seated beside him, the rate at which the waffles were disappearing not even fazing him.

The kicked-puppy-dog look sent his way explained everything. Kaito's eyes watered but no tears fell, as he described his day. "… I think I accidently made it worse Shin-chan! I made you another enemy! … And I might have accidently made him think you were KID. I'm so sorry Shin-chan!"

"Woah, just calm down a bit, Kai…" Shinichi awkwardly put his arm behind Kaito as he trailed off, the unnaturally often occurrence not making the situation any less embarrassing. "It's alright, I probably would have done the same thing. And did you just say you made my 'murderer' think I was KID!? Never mind, Kaito, I can't believe you took down someone like that on your own!" A glance at the waffles revealed what Shinichi already suspected. "Let me buy you another ice cream, you deserve it." _Especially with how much you hate violence. I'm sorry about everything your association with me puts you through, Kaito._

'Thanks, Shin-chan!" The magician perked right up, as if the earlier events of that day had not occurred. But they knew each other too well to be fooled by acting. A rose suddenly appeared in Kaito's face, and genuine surprise caused him to lose his balance on the stool he was seated on, but he regained it as soon as he had lost it.

"I know it's a small consolation, but I have been practising in what little free time I get in between everything for the past week or so." _Or maybe month. _"A white rose, tinged with blue, just like…" _like your eyes. They bring joy and happiness and hope to all who get to experience your magic. And _her_ favourite colour. She is as important to you as much as your magic and KID. _Shinichi looked away, the slight rose on his cheeks unnoticed by all.

"I didn't even see you do that, I was so shocked. I suppose if I am doing your job now, you'll have to be able to do mine. That was really well done, Shin-chan. I can see it now 'Shin-chan, the one-trick magician, opening act to the amazing Kaito!' I guess I'll need to find someone else to be my assistant if you are doing the opening act…" Kaito's high praise and chatter brought Shinichi back to reality, both boys feeling much better after the slightly less than average days. Shinichi made Kaito forget the cases and reality of part of the organisation still out there and Kaito helped Shinichi forget Ran.

"You and Aoko-chan have a good time tonight, Kaito. I'll see you later."

"Sure thing, Shinichi." Kaito leaned over and pecked Shinichi on the cheek. "Don't do something stupid on your own, and that includes bury yourself in work. Later." Kaito fled, his worry the only thing keeping him from dashing after kissing Shinichi. Shinichi tried, unsuccessfully, to hide his blush as he too turned and ran back to his house as soon as Kaito had, touching his cheek once safely inside.

Maybe he still had a happy ending.

AN: I didn't plan for it to end like that. I must be reading too much Kaishin… This was my first Kaishin, so I would love your feedback; I'm not sure how it turned out.

Question for the reviews:  
>What would Kaito's stage name be (if he wants one)? I think he'd ask Kudo Yuusaku if he could be called Night Baron and use the uniform, minus the mask, for a bit of irony.<p> 


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